Sterling Silver: (Sterling Hunter 1)

by Melody Personette

  Sebastian drove away even as Chelsea bombarded them with questions. She looked awful. Horror-stricken with her brown hair, a tangled mess, her makeup smeared from crying and her clothes rumpled. “Who was that? Did she escape? What… what’s happening? Tabitha, how did you find me?”

  Sebastian glanced at Tabitha and cringed. She still refused to look at him. He could imagine she was trying to come up with a lie to tell Chelsea, though how she could explain away this mess was beyond him.

  Tabitha turned in her seat, unbuckled and gave her friend a forced smile. “Chelsea, it’s hard to explain but… I promise that after this is all over, I’ll tell you everything.”

  “Tell me what? I have no idea what is going on. Why didn’t the police show up? Did anyone even call them?”

  Tabitha nodded, her smile becoming a bit strained. Sebastian grimaced at the road as they road through town toward Tabitha’s neighborhood. “Your parents did call them. We just found you first and once we get you home, I’ll call my mom and tell her to call off the police. I promise Chelsea, it’s complicated and hard to explain but I’ll try… to tell you everything. It’s a long story.”

  Chelsea frowned and glanced out the window, but she did shut her mouth and sit back, arms folded. Looked like Tabitha was going to get the silent treatment. Just like Tabitha was giving Sebastian the silent treatment. Well at least they could both be miserable now. Tabitha flinched and turned back around, staring at the road as if it might contain all the answers to her problems. “Why are we heading to my house?” she asked at last as Sebastian turned out of town and toward the cluster of neighborhoods.

  Sebastian kept his eyes on the road as he answered. “I’m going to take you two to your house for now. I’m going to go hunt down Alistair. On my own.”

  He flinched when he heard–more like felt–the rush of anger that swept through Tabitha’s mind.

  “You’re what?” she bit out.

  Sebastian gripped the steering wheel tighter. “You heard what I said.”

  “No, I don’t think I did. I thought you said you were going to leave me with my mom like some sort of defenseless damsel in distress and face Alistair alone but that can’t be right.”

  Sebastian’s temper flared. Didn’t she understand that he couldn’t lose her? That he was doing this to protect her? His foot involuntarily hit the gas pedal a bit too hard and they sped faster down the road toward the neighborhoods, fueled by his anger. “You know full well that is not what I meant. You’re not a defenseless damsel Tabitha. You know what?” he growled. He took his foot off the gas and hit the break causing the tires to screech against the road and an unsavory word come from the back seat.

  Tabitha’s jaw dropped as she gripped the armrests with white-knuckled fists as Sebastian jerked the car into park and faced her, furious. He had never been so furious in his life. Even more furious than when Emmeline chose Alistair over him.

  He glared at her Tabitha’s face white with shock. “You are not defenseless, and you are not a nobody. You are everything to me, Tabitha. You are the farthest thing from defenseless. You are unimaginably brave, ridiculously impulsive, and so strong and independent that it sometimes scares me.”

  He reached across the seat and gripped her shoulders, forcing her to stare at him, to register that everything he said was true. Raw and true and almost unbelievable to both of them. “I haven’t known you for a long time and for me a long time is well… a very long time but Tabitha I have never met anyone as extraordinary or spectacular as you. Your wild and untamable. You take control, and you fight for what you believe in and,” he chuckled, shaking his head as he thought over everything, he had learned about her in the short time they had known each other, “your reckless and a magnet for danger. You’re a dangerous and gorgeous girl that shines brighter than any other human being I have ever met, and I am so sick of not being able to tell you this so I’m just going to say it and I don’t care if you hate me for it or if you don’t say it back. I just have to say this once.”

  He heard her breath catch in her throat, spurring him on. Sebastian took her face in her hands, feeling the blood pulse beneath her skin and heat her cheeks up. He heard the way her heart pattered in her chest and the way she swallowed when he touched her. “I love you, Tabitha. I love you so much that the thought of losing you drives me crazy and that’s why I don’t want you to go. I just want to protect you… like I could never protect Emmeline. She turned into a vampire because of me. Alistair dug his claws into her because of me. I… won’t let the same thing happen to you,” he whispered. “And I want to protect you because I love you so please, please stay home with your mom, so I can do this one thing. You’ve been protecting me, protecting everyone for so long. I just want to return the favor.”

  He saw tears sparkle in her eyes, and he loosened his grip. Had he hurt her, or did she not love him back? From her conversation with Chelsea, he could have sworn she had all but admitted to loving him like he loved her. He let his hands drop between them, silence creating a wide gap between them.

  But if he thought he was going to get a kiss or a declaration of love from her, he was sorely mistaken. Tabitha’s hard gaze did soften a fraction but instead of telling him she loved him, she reached out and squeezed his hand. “I know,” she whispered. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not furious with you still. I need some time.”

  “So… are we going to Tabitha’s house or what?” Chelsea asked. When they both swiveled around, she had a big grin on her face pointed at Tabitha who blushed a deep red.

  Sebastian smirked and put the car in drive and hit the gas. “Yes, we are.” He glanced at Tabitha to wait for her to answer his unspoken question.

  She dipped her head, relenting. “I’ll stay with Chelsea and my mom, but you have to promise me that if you get over your head you have to call me. When you find him, call me and I’ll come?”

  Sebastian nodded as he turned into their neighborhood. “I will, I promise.”

  She seemed satisfied with that and nodded. A few minutes later, he parked in front of the house and took her hand again, kissing it. A promise for later. Tabitha gave him a half-hearted smile and got out of the car. At least he’d gotten a smile… She gave him a small wave before he took off.

  Time to take down the man who had been haunting him for so many years. He wouldn’t let Alistair get away with any murder or pain. Not anymore. He wouldn’t stop no matter how long it took to hunt Alistair down. And now, he thought with a grin, he had something to come back to. Something to look forward to.

  A certain, strawberry blond, yellow combat boot wearing huntress who made him feel human again after all these years.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Tabitha grinned at Chelsea and wrapped an arm around her as they made their way up to the front door. “So… you had better explain everything to me. Starting with Sebastian and ending with why you look like a freaky comic book vampire hunter.”

  Tabitha bit back a smile and threw open the door. “How about we get something to drink and sit down and I’ll tell you the most interesting story you’ve ever heard.”

  “Sounds good to me. Why are all the lights off?” Chelsea said with a smile as she shut the door behind her.

  Tabitha stopped halfway through unclipping her belt of stakes and glanced around. She was right. all the lights in the house were off. Had her mom left to help find Chelsea? But… that couldn’t be right. She’d said she would stay here and wait for news and help coordinate. “This is… weird,” Tabitha muttered, clipping her belt back on. She slid a stake from her waist and pushed it into Chelsea’s hands. “Take this and stay here.”

  Chelsea didn’t argue, but she did give Tabitha a confused look. Tabitha just held a finger to her lips and crept past the front room and toward the kitchen, sliding one of the silver swords from her back. Something wasn’t right. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and her instincts made every nerve in her body alert. There was a vampire in this house somewhere.
She just hoped her mom was safe and far away from here.

  She stopped next to the wall between the kitchen and the living room, her whole body going tense. She was getting close. Really close. Touching her hand to the light switch, she flipped them prepared for everything. Prepared for everything except for Alistair standing in front of the small round table between the kitchen and living room with an arm wrapped around her mom’s waist.

  Tabitha gasped, but she clutched the sword tighter, her eyes widening at the scene in front of her. Alistair’s lips formed a triumphant grin, her mom’s face pale and terror-stricken, tears streaming down her face. “Tabitha, we’ve been waiting for you to get home. Did you rescue your little friend before Emmeline ate her?” Alistair taunted, his voice soft and mocking.

  Tabitha’s heartbeat picked up with either fear or adrenaline or a mix of both, making sure to keep her eyes trained on him and not on her mother. “Alistair,” she whispered as if just realizing he was there. “What are you doing?”

  He grinned. “What does it look like? I made you a promise Tabitha. I intend to keep it.”

  Tabitha froze, her blood going cold. “No… this isn’t about her. This is about me and you so just… let my mom go, and you can do whatever you want to me.”

  He chuckled under his breath, his sharp brown eyes roving over her. “Oh, I plan to do whatever I want with you. But I also planned to do whatever I wanted with your mother as well. And that is what I am going to do.”

  Tabitha shook her head. She could only think of one thing to do. A dangerous stupid thing but something, nonetheless. She dropped her sword to the ground and stepped forward, hands raised. Alistair watched with twisted amusement on his face as if curious to see what she would do next. She pulled a stake from her belt and held her right hand out, palm up. all she had to do was distract him. Get him away from her mom and out of the house. Or at least have his full attention on her and there was only one way to get the attention of a vampire.

  Without flinching she drove the stake into the palm of her hand. Pain and blood blossomed on her skin like a deadly rose and she dropped the stake, holding her hand up to his face. Holding her breath and holding back the tears of pain she took another step and another toward Alistair until she was right in front of him, blood dripping down her wrist and onto the floor. Her mom’s eyes widened in pure horror, and she shook her head against Alistair’s grip. He must have compelled her to stay quiet.

  Tabitha forced a reassuring smile. “Mom, it’s going to be ok. I promise,” she whispered.

  Her mom continued to shake her head, but she couldn’t move the rest of her body. Alistair licked his lips, red seeping into his brown eyes. The color of hunger. “What a clever, stupid girl you are,” he growled. His hands suddenly let go of her mom and he threw her aside, into the table. She shrieked, and Tabitha made a move to grab her, but Alistair was too fast. He grabbed her wrist, his hands like iron manacles and licked her palm. Tabitha shivered, standing as still as a statue. One move could set him off. Over his shoulder, his rough tongue against her palm Tabitha pleaded with her mom with her eyes to run. To flee. To not look back and to go.

  Her mom sobbed, falling to the ground against the table. She couldn’t leave. He must have compelled her to stay. Who knew what else he had compelled her to do? Alistair growled and shoved her roughly against him, his hand splayed against her back. Tabitha sucked in a breath, feeling his body against hers as he held her wrist up to his mouth. This was it. Tabitha had been dipping her toes in the hunting business for a long time and not once had she ever been bitten or fed off of by a vampire. If Alistair did, this there would be no going back. Tabitha still had a few stakes in her belt and around her shoulder. If she could get him to feed off her neck, she could slump against him and drive a stake under his ribcage and into his heart.

  His fangs gleamed as he reared his head, ready to bite into her wrist. “Stop,” Tabitha said, surprised by how strong and sturdy her voice sounded. He paused for an instant his eyes no longer human but hungry and animalistic. Trying to keep herself from shaking she pulled her hair away from her neck with her other hand and leaned back, preparing herself for the excruciating pain.

  A hoarse chuckle rumbled from Alistair’s throat as his eyes traced the blood flow through her neck. “You want me to kill you?” he whispered. He dropped her wrist and grabbed hold of her shoulders, his nails digging into her skin.

  Tabitha swallowed back a gasp of pain and nodded, staring into his eyes. “Just do whatever you want to me. Leave my mom out of this,” she pleaded.

  A hungry grin spread across his lips and he threw a glance over his shoulder at her mother before turning his attention back to her. “Fine.”

  And then without warning and in a blink of an eye he reared back his head and bit down. It took all Tabitha had to bite back the scream that built up in her throat. His fangs sank into her skin like two excruciating needles, and she could feel–literally feel–the blood and her life force being sucked away into this creature’s body. She sank against him, not because of her plan but because she had to, or she crumble. The rest of his teeth bit down too, ripping at her neck and this time she did scream as his nails created ruts in her skin, holes as he pulled her in closer. With shaking, unsteady hands she grabbed one of the stakes from her belt, trying with all her strength not to let it rattle from her hands to the floor and held it up, her eyes locking with her mom’s.

  “I love you,” she mouthed. If she didn’t survive this. If she managed to kill Alistair and bled out on the floor of her dining room Tabitha wanted her mom to know how much she loved her. Biting back another scream as her mind began to loosen and turn into spinning cotton candy and her legs to jelly, she held the stake up and plunged it down through the air and toward Alistair’s heart.

  He pushed her away, growling like the monster he was. She hit the wall and slid down, the stake falling from her hand. Her head cracked against something hard and she hit the floor, her eyesight going blurry.

  Someone said something and then two hands grabbed her and yanked her, shoving her against the wall. “Big mistake little huntress. I was just about to kill you and let you die in peace but now I don’t think I will,” Alistair growled. His voice sounded as if Tabitha were under water and he was yelling at her from the top, urging her to come to the surface, to catch her breath. Sticky blood ran down her neck and coated her hair and shoulders. Her heart pounded in her head.

  The hands that held her up let go of her and Tabitha didn’t have the strength to hold herself up. She gripped the edge of the wall, just barely holding herself up and pressed her other hand against her neck. There was too much blood, though.

  Alistair grabbed her mom by the arm, her shaking, scared to death mom and held her back against his front, grinning at Tabitha. His lips and eyes were crimson red with blood dripping off his chin and onto his once impeccably clean suit. He flashed her a ferocious grin. “This Tabitha Sterling, this is all your fault. Your mother’s death? Her blood is on your hands now.”

  Tabitha’s eyes widened as he growled and sank his teeth into her mom’s neck. They both screamed in unison. “No!” she grabbed the wall and tried to pull herself up in vain but every time she tried, she would lose consciousness for just a second and wake up back on the floor, back in this nightmare.

  Her mom was dying right before her eyes and there was nothing, she could do to stop it. “Mom! Mom!” she screamed. Alistair laughed as he drank. Her mom’s eyes closed, the terror leaving her face and then all at once, in a matter of minutes that felt like mere seconds to Tabitha her mom sagged against Alistair. And still he drank and drank and drank until her mom hit the ground, lifeless and dead and drained of blood.

  “No!” Tabitha screamed. She crawled over with all the strength she had left, her sobs meshing with the screams of someone behind her and her tears mixing with the blood all over her face.

  Alistair laughed, his eyes dancing with drunken delight, his whole body relaxed. He was drunk
on her mom’s blood. Tabitha gripped her mother’s clothes and pulled her onto her lap, ignoring the agonizing pain in her hand and her neck and her shoulders. They were both going to die tonight. Bleed out in their kitchen. She was about to wrap her arms around her mother and sob and sob and never stop crying but Alistair grabbed her by her shoulder and yanked her up. Tabitha screamed in pain, reaching for her mom. “No! No! Let me go! You… you killed her! You killed her!” she screamed.

  Another laugh. “Yes, I did and now it’s your turn.”

  Tabitha watched, the world and Alistair and her mom and all the red turning into one blurry mess as Alistair ripped open his wrist and held it out to her. Tabitha scrambled to remember why that was a bad thing. Why she shouldn’t drink. Why… why she shouldn’t drink his blood, but she couldn’t remember. Just as his wrist and something hot and sticky and bitter touched her lips a growl came through the other side of the room and Tabitha dropped to the ground, released from Alistair’s grip.

  The last thing Tabitha saw was her mom laying on the ground, dead and lifeless and never to get up again.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Tabitha woke up exhausted and tired and drained. Her face was coated with dry tears from waking in and out of a delirious sleep and remembering what had happened to her mother. Flashbacks of the night the police showed up at their door and told them her dad had died came back to her. The sickening feeling of dread in her stomach. Her heart breaking in two. The realization that she would never see one of the most important people in her life ever again. How her heart hurt too much to think, to breath. It all came rushing back and Tabitha couldn’t stop it. All she could do was curl up under these unfamiliar blankets and hug herself, trying to squeeze all the pieces of her brokenness back together.

  The tears had stopped hours ago but the horror and shock did not. She felt distant as if the whole world had gone black and gray and she was just a bystander, watching from afar. Her mind replayed the scene over and over again. The ripping of her throat and her mother’s. Alistair’s red glinting eyes haunted her every time she closed her eyes. The blood everywhere and the feeling of it dripping down her skin. Tabitha wished she could wake up from this nightmare. She wished it was a nightmare. She wished she could wake up in her own bed and go downstairs to find her mom sitting at the table and flipping through Facebook and filling Tabitha in on the latest family gossip.